Category: Weekly Reflections

Traditionally, when I think about outdoor education and nature literacy, I think of ways for people to unplug from technology, connect with nature, and their from the environment around them. I don’t think I have ever intentionally used technology to enhance outdoor learning.

Don’t get me wrong, I did lots of geocaching back in my day. My parents and I would do it when we went camping, when we wanted a day at the park, etc. It was a fun family activity that was a scavenger hunt that got us outside. I had never thought about the weight of the technology behind this though.

When we talked about how technology can enhance the outdoor learning environment and experience, it was like the lights turned on. Especially after reading this article about taking technology outdoors, I realized that it is not a black and white world we live in, and that it is okay for technology to be incorporated in outdoor education when it truly is to benefit the student and cause a greater sense of engagement.

Although the video you are about to see is older, and lots has changed in the past 12 years, I think what he talks about is relevant in todays conversation about technology and nature.

In class, we had guest lecturers come talk to us from BCEd Access Society. Before this class, I had not heard of this support group, but I think the work that they do and the support they provide is really cool. As pre-service teachers, we often hear about the importance of inclusion, but are typically given very little support in understanding what this actually might look like in practice. That is why I made this IEP Resource sheet for my link2practice assignment last term.

I found the exclusion tracker both incredibly interesting and heartbreaking. I understand that there are a multitude of challenges that students face that may require them to have adapted school schedules, different start/end times, modified curriculum, etc. But it is incredibly heartbreaking to think about the social and the developmental impact exclusion has on our youth.

In this week’s class, we had a lengthy discussion about what AI is, what it is capable of, and where it is headed. I feel like this is a conversation that we have had in most of our classes this year in the Elementary PDP program. Which, makes sense, as it is a resource (and an arguable hinderance) that we will have to face in our teaching practices.

Two years ago, I knew nothing about AI. I used it, sure, but not consciously (ie. Siri vs ChatGPT). Today, I use AI almost every day. The following is an interesting video that talks about AI, though it is almost a year old, and lots has chnaged in this time.

As much as AI is amazing and can make our lives easier, it is alos terrifying, as it is literally changing modern warfare with very little regulation.

AI has the ability to reduce fatigue, speed up slow and redudant work processes, help generate ideas for creativity, help advance our medical and educational worlds, help make travel details, etc. However, AI contributes to the climate crisis, incures high costs, has irrdicated certain jobs, and is being used to shape modern warfare.

I think AI can be a beuatiful tool, but like anything, when relied on too heavily, destruction is imminent.

On Friday, we discussed and explored Edcamp. The idea of Edcamp was new to me, but I was very intrigued by the idea of it. The reason I used the photo above is because it is kind of what I think partcipating in Edcamp feels like: there is no real leader, it is a group effort, and by using each other’s strengths and interests, we are successful in the task we hope to achieve.

Traditional confrences, although they still have their place, can be very boring and repetitive in structure: keynote speakers, lectures, breaks, takeaways, home. Edcamp is a way to embrace the ideas of others and learn alongside one another in a refreshing way.

I think my class subscribes so much to the idea of Edcamp because in a lot of ways, a lot of our program reflects this learning style.

My biggest takeaway from my first year of post-secondary education being held virtually back in 2020, was that Zoom is not just a catchy ending to a Mazda commercial… it is an educational platform.

I, like probably most students who navigated higher education via Zoom, have a love/hate relationships with the platform. Zoom is great because it let’s me still be connected with classmates far away and complete work remotely that I would otherwise fall behind in. However, as much as Zoom connects us, it also is incredibly isolating. In fact, logging into the platform today gives me flashbacks to the “Covid Days”.

As an educator, I see value in Zoom; so many resources become available to students when we give them platforms like this. However, I also know it becomes way easier for students to “tune out” and focus on another stimulus with Zoom on in the background.

I found this Tedx talk discussing virtual learning to be interesting, especially given that it was published four years ago:

In conclusion, like everything in life these days, I think there is pros and cons to virtual learning. Neither is right or wrong, it just depends on the context of the learning environment.

On Friday, we had Rick McCue come in as a guest speaker from the UVic Libraries to discuss video and audio editing with out class. To be honest, as a 23-year-old who’s job is to create outreach content, and who has had multiple alternative media assignments, what Rick talked about was mostly information I already had.

However, I really appreciated the tips and tricks he provided, and how easy the UVic Libraries’ instructions were to follow. Plus, there’s nothing I love more than beefing up my LinkedIn profile, so it was fun to earn a badge for being in class this day.

After learning more about podcasting, I am very excited to get started and rent out the podcast room in the library for our upcoming assignments!

In our last class we walked through multiple services and programs that can be used in educational settings to create fun images, presentations, and even work sheets for students.

As someone who is completing an education degree, Canva quickly became one of my best friends when I started this program. Like most relationships, there were some communication and understadning issues to buffer out. But, at this point, I like to think our relationship is strong and steady!

Below is a video that explains how Canva can be used when implementing UDL in our classrooms, even in something as mundane as the traditional slideshow.

There are many many ways that Canva can be a fun and inclusive tool for teachers. Outside of the classroom, Canva is also a very fun resource to create posters and artwork with. Below are images I created this week for my mom’s ‘under the sea’ themed curling tournament for their raffles.

This poster was made for the raffle table.

This poster was made for their ‘Toonie Broom’ where the winner will get a new curling broom covered in toonies!

My mom was VERY happy with this whale pun 😉

This one was fun to make. The idea is you pick a playing card, rip it in half with the raffle attendant, and then based on the card you pull, you win a bottle (of gatorade, obviously).

And yes, this was a lot of graphics I put in this post, but I put a LOT of work into them and was proud of my work!

There has been an emerging trend in our education classes, regardless of course subject matter, to have conversation about “the big ba- no, the coolest tool… but also the scariest invention”, aka Artificial Intelligence (AI).

On Friday, our class had a guest speaker come in and talk to us about AI and internet safety that we will inevitably need to acknowledge and create boundaries with in our future classrooms. We discussed how amazing AI can be, but also how terrifying it is because AI is advancing faster than government legislation, and it has an enormous carbon footprint. Truthfully, I do not know how I feel about AI, but, as the guest speaker discussed, the reality is that it is now a tool that is not going away and is something we must evolve with, just like social media was for the generation of educators before me.

I decided to look into the actual impact AI has on our environment. I first watched the CBC video that you can see below. Hearing that training one AI model can produce 626,000lbs of CO2, the equivalent of 5 cars in their lifetime, was shocking. However, it was interesting to also hear that AI could be used to reduce general carbon emissions and help firefighters contain fires due to early detection technology.

AI is tool that I believe should be regulated for many reasons: to protect our young people and anyone who is vulnerable to cybercrimes, to protect copyright, to save lives, and for the safety and secuirty of global citizens.

Although I believe AI should be regulated, there currently is next to no regulations, and it is in the hands of almost all students and children. Because of this, I think AI is a tool teachers should ackowledge and engage with to demonstrate safe practices and AI responsibility to our students. By using AI with our students we help prepare them to be responsible citizens and for the changing world and job market they will eventually enter, while still keeping their spark of creativity alive.

AI also has the potential to be a helpful resource for teachers when creating and implementing IEPs in the classroom. Whether it be Magic School AI that helps teachers creating IEP goals and lesson plans, or Google Read & Write, AI has the ability to help both students and teachers with diverse needs and goals thrive in and outside the classroom.

Calling all [team sport] athletes: we all can relate to the moment where, your team did it! You finally made it to the gold medal game of the biggest tournament of the season. There’s a minute left and the game is tied. You make a pass of the century, and your teammate scores the game winning goal. Everyone cheers and praises your teammate for their hardwork and amazing game.

You know they deserve praise because they helped your team win; but you also feel sad because nobody is recognizing that they couldn’t have that success without you setting them up. That mixed emotion of being happy but also unrecognized is gutwrenching. It is also how our educational partners and resource creators may feel when we use their resoruces without proper credit.

Alright, now that I’ve got you hooked, we can dive deeper into this week’s material!

In today’s day and age, I was surprised to hear that as soon as you create something, you automatically have copyright over it. We live in such a digital age that I assumed you had to prove to some sort of agency that the work was yours in order to get copyright. This misunderstanding was likely because I never had read into Bill C-11, and did not realize that there is a certain amount of “wiggle room” given to my instructors and I to use materials for educational purposes.

Going into my practicum this April, and having to create my own lesson plans, I want to be very intentional with my lesson planing and use Open Educational Resource (OER) to ensure that my practice is both beneficial and ethical. Luckily, it is an easy practice I can make sure I do, even today! For example, ths picture in this post was sourced from Pexels, and I would like to thank fauxels for making this picture available.

An OER that I could potentially see myself using for my free inquiry project is the “Have confidence and go for it” YouTube video by Megan Oyster. I specifically chose this resource because it is from another woman telling other athletes to have confidence and try new things.

Chow for now!